By Coral Gables Gazette staff
Different year. Same discord. The Coral Gables City Commission opened 2026 much as it closed 2025: with arguing, insults, and the airing of deeply personal grievances competing with the business of governing. The January 13 marathon meeting stretched nearly eight hours on the clock and more than ten in reality, extended by repeated delays, procedural breakdowns, and two lengthy recesses triggered by escalating conflict on the dais.
Midway through the meeting, an extraordinary sequence unfolded. Mayor Vince Lago called for two hour-long recesses, separated only by a brief 10-minute interlude in which a deputy city attorney read the commission’s rules of order into the record. Within minutes of proceedings resuming, the mayor again halted the meeting, saying commissioners were failing to follow parliamentary procedure and talking out of order.
At the center of the confrontation were the mayor and Commissioner Melissa Castro, whose already strained relationship deteriorated further as both referenced each other’s families during different issues. One of those exchanges culminated in Lago moving to censure Castro, although the motion failed when no commissioner seconded it, leaving the mayor visibly upset.
Tension started ramping up repeatedly discussion of Castro’s proposed Anti-Kickback and Post-Approval Transparency Ordinance, which would have required commissioners to disclose campaign contributions and business dealings occurring after votes are taken. In presenting the ordinance, Castro cited several of the mayor’s prominent developer donors. The ordinance suffered a similar fate to much of Castro’s proposed legislative efforts, ultimately being rejected on a 3–2 vote.
Throughout the meeting, Lago repeated many of his consistent criticisms of Castro’s permitting business interests, implying some of her past legislation was self-serving rather than reform-minded.
Keeping it all in the family
As the back-and-forth intensified, Castro accused the mayor of personal harassment. “I have no idea why you keep harassing me every single day,” she said, adding, “Just once again, go worry about your family.”
The remark prompted an immediate and angry response from Lago. “I don’t know why she keeps bringing up my family continuously,” he said, before making a motion to censure Castro for invoking his family. “Do I have a second?”
He did not.
Visibly frustrated, the mayor pressed his colleagues, asking whether their silence meant that commissioners’ families were now fair game. Although he looked to Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Commissioner Richard Lara to support the censure, Lago directed most of his ire at Commissioner Ariel Fernandez, an adversary who has tried to take on the role of peacemaker as of late. “You want to show leadership. You want to show you’ve changed. Then second the motion,” the mayor demanded.
Commissioner Lara attempted to de-escalate, saying he was not in favor of censure without first allowing Castro to respond. Given the opportunity, Castro said she did not believe she had spoken derogatorily about the mayor’s family. “I said take care of your family,” she said. “It’s not in a negative way. It’s a neutral way. I’m just asking you to stop harassing me and worry about your own things, not me.”
What the mayor did not acknowledge during that discussion was that he himself had introduced family into the debate earlier in the meeting. Lago accused Castro of enriching herself through permitting work on a previous project and alleged that her late mother had made more than a million dollars on a major development project. Castro immediately objected. “So no, I was not a permit expediter for that project,” Castro said. “And please refrain from mentioning my mom. May she rest in peace. Don’t mess with her.”
A brace of recesses
After failing to get a second for his censure effort and not liking Castro’s explanation for her reference to his family, the mayor abruptly called his first hour-long recess. When commissioners returned to the chambers, Deputy City Attorney Stephanie Throckmorton delivered a detailed explanation of parliamentary rules, emphasizing that all motions must be recognized by the chair, that commissioners may only speak when recognized, and that the mayor controls the flow of debate and recesses. Even that intervention did little to cool tempers once the meeting resumed.
Another short discussion on parliamentary rules and order resulted in the mayor calling his second hour-long recess, as he tried to reign in the disorder. Immediately afterward, both Castro and Fernandez attempted to adjourn the meeting altogether. They were stopped by the city attorney, who explained that because the mayor, as chair, had already called a recess, no commissioner had authority to make or entertain a motion without him present and recognizing it.
The episode echoed a familiar pattern from last year, when a December 2025 commission meeting similarly devolved into personal attacks and recriminations. During an earlier meeting last year, Castro was censured after she objected to a commission-approved change to an election date — a decision the commission later rescinded.
If the first meeting of 2026 is any indication, the commission enters the new year carrying the same unresolved grievances, hardened divisions, and blurred lines between policy disputes and personal animosity that defined the year before. Whether the body can move past that dynamic remains an open question.
This Post Has 10 Comments
Thank you for explaining there was no second to the totally hypocritical censure motion.
Nice leadership from City Beautiful. You have been entrusted to serve the people. What a joke! Vote them ALL OUT and start over.
Agreed. start w Lago. as a leader, this guy is a zero to the left of the decimal point. hisnotion of Leadership is that he’s Boss, and we’re all here to do what he says.
Lago doesn’t understand respect or Robert’s Rules of Order. His basic lack of humanity is putting a shit stain on the city beautiful. Oh, and he’s a misogynistic bully too.
Why was there no censure of mayor lago over the disgusting sexualizec hit piece his pac, gables first did on Castro with the ridiculous Santa baby email.
Lago should have been censured and removed from office for his cyber bullying of Commissioner Castro via the misogynist and degrading email sent out on December 23rd via his PAC, Coral Gables First (a misnomer if I’ve ever seen one).
Instead of its intended purpose, it just makes Lago look worse than before. A total lack of ethics and respect on his part, and it makes residents wonder why he thinks this is a good idea???
Just a toxic situation that only serves as an embarrassment to our City.
Lights. Action. The circus is back in 2026. Keep bringing clowns to govern and the act goes on. It’s a shame for such an amazing city with so much potential the commission keeps dragging on the same show. Get it together. Let’s get this city shining instead of shoveling.
Mayor Lago’s quote (3:59 of the meeting) applies to his limited knowledge of Robert’s Rules of Order: “You do not understand or it is reckless.” He unilaterally declares a recess at 3:35, 4:11 and 4:23 of the meeting. The video of the meeting eliminated his actions after he declared a recess. Assistant City Attorney Throckmorton explained some rules but disregarded Rule 18 – Take a Recess. Again, Mayor Lago’s quote (4:45 of the meeting) applies: “It is pretty simple.” A recess occurs ONLY IF there is a motion that is seconded and then approved by a majority. Declaring a recess and leaving the room without a motion, second or vote causes Vice-Mayor Anderson to undertake the duties of Mayor Lago when he is absent per Art. I, § 6 of the Coral Gables Charter. But Vice-Mayor Anderson failed to do that. To follow “the parliamentary procedures to a T” (4:15 of the meeting), Mayor Lago must know the procedures. Mayor Lago’s multiple allegations (4:53 and 5:08 of the meeting) that there was a backroom deal between Commissioners Menendez and Fernandez to fire City Manager Peter Iglesias in exchange for a pay hike is a gross violation of Rule 43 – Decorum in Debate (it is not allowable to arraign the motives of a member). Mr. Iglesias was terminated because (1) he lied to residents and Commissioners about a tenant that was not in default, (2) refused to follow the Commission directive to reopen Burger Bob’s, (3) failed to keep the Commission and residents apprised of rising costs for the mobility hub and (4) verbally attacked a Commissioner at the 1/23/2024 Commission meeting. Mayor Lago promised to have a search committee find a new city manager! Never happened. And we are paying our current City Manager $76,700 per year just for his retirement because Mayor Lago refused to negotiate the City Manager’s employment or consider an alternative candidate! Mayor Lago’s actions are wrong and wasteful. The only benefit of moving the election to November is that we can vote him out of office sooner.
Lago talks about following Roberts Rules of Order and decorum, but he is the first to violate both. A meeting chair cannot unilaterally declare a recess. He needs a motion, a second and a vote. He is the First Violator of the meeting rules.
Lago’s PAC “Coral Gables First” sent a holiday message that sexualized a sitting commissioner with misogyny. That is a violation of any view of decorum and is also grounds for censure and voter recall. Lara, as the father of 3 young women, should have spoken out. And Anderson, the other woman on the dais and who would like to be our next mayor, should have decried that disgusting attack. Fernandez also missed an opportunity to show that we do not tolerate this behavior in our city.
Open your eyes Coral Gables! See Lago for who he really is. If we keep voting in his cronies, this is our future…degenerating into a banana republic of a city.